Daily Archives: January 11, 2019

Karachi Police Chief Dr Amir Ahmed Shaikh during a media briefing on Friday said that the attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi was planned in Afghanistan and carried out with the assistance of Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

In November last year, three heavily armed militants attempted to enter the Chinese consulate in the ‘high security zone’ of Clifton’s Block-4 but were shot dead in an encounter with law enforcers. The gun-and-grenade assault also claimed the lives of two police officials and two visa applicants, and injured a private guard of the foreign mission. The banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) had claimed credit for the attack.

The additional inspector general of police disclosed that at least five facilitators have been arrested so far from Karachi, Hub and Quetta during the probe.

He said that based on the police’s investigation, the attack was aimed at sabotaging the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and meant to create trouble between Pakistan and China. “They wanted China to believe that Karachi is not [a] safe [city].”

Sharing the details of the attack, he said that the trained terrorists had been observing the consulate and particularly its visa section for almost four months. “They used to sit in the visa section of the consulate to observe when the gates open and other details.”

“They transported weapons in a boat engine from Quetta to Karachi through train service,” he said, adding that the weapons and other material were dumped at a house in Baldia Town area of Karachi.

“The terrorists used fake computerised national identity cards,” he said. “We are writing to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Pakistan Railways to upgrade their security mechanism so that the facilities of the railways and the National Database & Registration Authority (Nadra) are not abused by terrorists.”

He shared several photographs “recovered from the cell phones of the terrorists”. One of the facilitators was a cousin of Aslam alias Acho — the alleged mastermind of the attack — while another was the brother-in-law of another high-profile terrorist, who is considered to be the second to Acho, said Shaikh.

Shaikh added that there were reports that Acho and some other high-profile terrorists had been killed in an attack in Afghanistan but he refused to believe the news until and unless he “sees the bodies or any solid proof”.

It is an old tactic of terrorists to get themselves declared ‘killed’ to divert the attention of law enforcement agencies, he added.

Consulate’s reconnaissance

Earlier, sources familiar with the proceedings of the investigation had told that one of the killed militants, Abdul Raziq, resident of Kharan, with his accomplice Abdul Latif, hailing from Khuzdar in Balochistan, had visited Karachi on Aug 6 also. They had both stayed at hotels in Lyari and Saddar and conducted reconnaissance of the consulate.

With the help of technology, it was also discovered that the killed militants had also stayed in Sindh’s two cities, Shahdadpur and Sukkur, before going back to Quetta. They returned to Karachi via Hub, Balochistan, on the night of Nov 23 and stayed for a while in the Shershah area of Karachi before launching the gun-and-grenade attack.

A woman police officer has surpassed all other investigators in crime fighting in Lahore.

The annual performance report of the investigation wing of Lahore police has revealed that the Model Town Superintendent Police (Investigation) Dr. Anoosh Masood Chaudhry, manifested excellent performance in solving the criminal cases during the previous year.

As per the details, the Model Town division (investigation) police filed challans of 74 percent crime cases in the local courts under her supervision in 2018.

As per the police report, the Civil Lines division got the second position while the Cantonment division police got the third position followed by the Iqbal Town police division.

Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), BA Nasir, and Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Dr. Waheed, have appreciated the efforts of the SP in reducing crimes.

Dr. Anoosh was the first woman to be appointed in 2014 as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She was also the first woman from Peshawar who passed the CSS 2011 40th Common batch.

She has been performing her duty since then in the Crime Investigation departments, first in KP and then in Punjab.

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minis­ter Asad Umar has ruled out the possibility that the country may default on repayment of debt and claimed that due to some important decisions being taken by the government to strengthen the economy, Pakistan is better placed to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund.

Talking to anchorpersons here on Thursday, he said the country was not solely relying on the IMF for economic relief as alternative arrangements were available, adding that talks were under way with the IMF, but at the same time steps were being taken to get funds from alternative sources too.

“The government will sign an agreement with it [IMF] in case of any attractive programme,” the minister said without giving a direct answer to a question whether or not Pakistan was having another IMF programme. He said the IMF had not placed any non-financial condition during the negotiations and it was just an option to revive the economy.

Finance minister says country is better placed to negotiate with IMF

Mr Umar claimed that with an increase in exports and remittances and a reduction in imports, the country’s trade deficit had come down from $2 billion per month to $1bn. “This figure too is unsustainable and we are trying to further reduce it,” he said, adding that gap between external payments and foreign reserves had been covered.

The finance minister declined to comment on the value of dollar in near future, but said the situation would stabilise soon in the wake of measures taken by the government. He said the pressure to rush for a deal with the IMF had eased due to combination of efforts — financial supports from friendly countries and economic measures taken by the government.

The minister said that during the first five months of the Pakistan Peoples Party government in 2008, inflation had touched 11.2 per cent and during the same period of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government in 2013, it increased by 4pc. But, he added, inflation increased 0.4pc during the first five months of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government.

“Besides there is one point that you all miss — due to the measures taken by us the inflationary impact is higher for the top tier income slab of society and almost negligible for the lowest earning group,” Mr Umar said. “Previously, the impact was almost equal for all income groups.”

He said the increase in power and gas rates was applicable to the affluent and not the underprivileged of society.

The finance minister declined to talk about issues of circular debt and gas supply on the grounds that it was a domain of the power minister.

He said concrete measures were being taken to attract foreign investment in the country, which would strengthen the economy on a long-term basis.

The R&B artist will be kicking off the World Soccer Stars event with concerts in Karachi and Lahore.

“It’s time to rock Pakistan, I am looking forward to visiting Karachi and Lahore with TouchSky Group. So let’s get it down in Pakistan with World Soccer Stars,” said Akon about the event.

According to Ahmer Kunwar of TouchSky Group, “Akon is all set to mesmerise Pakistan and give fans the most pulsating music concert experience for the first time ever.”

The World Soccer Stars will have two soccer events in Karachi and Lahore, aiming to showcase the potential Pakistan has when it comes to soccer to the rest of the world.

Brazilian star Kaka and Portuguese legend Figo are also taking part in the promotions for the event and have arrived in Karachi to kick off the launch.

According to a press release, “World Soccer Stars is certain to ensure that Pakistan becomes the destination of choice for global entertainers and icons in 2019. With a star-studded football line-up combined with global music icon Akon, this promises to be a watershed moment for Pakistan.”

British Deputy High Commissioner Karachi and UK Trade Director for Pakistan Elin Burns said: “I am delighted that so much progress is taking place in the UK-Pakistan relationship this year. 2019 is geared up to be a historic year of collaboration between the UK and Pakistan in trade, education, sports and music. This is a testament to the UK’s commitment towards Pakistan’s prosperity. The UK based TouchSky Group shares our vision of supporting Pakistan and showcasing the many positive aspects of Pakistan to the world.”